Monuments of the Dead

The sun shone brightly through Penny's wavering lacy pink curtains, beaming onto her eyes and waking her up slightly. With a tired groan, she turned over and pulled her blankets over her head.

THUNK!

She popped her bedhead up and squinted her eyes at the door.
"Whaaaattt...?" Her light Scottish accent grew heavier as she grew angrier.

"Penny, darling!" Mrs. Iris Pollock, Penny's grandmother, called to her. "Its about that time, y'know!" She hollered through the wooden door.

"What time?..." Penny swung her blankets off and pushed herself up to sit on her bed, rubbing her sleepy eyes.

"Well time for school, of course, sleepyhead!" She could hear her grandmother chuckle and walk off but Penny wasn't laughing.

"WHAT!?" She exclaimed loudly, snagging up her pink alarm clock to see the red numbers beaming a big fat 6:00 A.M. at her. "NO NO!" Penny jumped to her feet and rushed to her closet. She couldn't look bad today! Today was the tryouts for Cheerleading, first thing! She had to look good--nay, she had to look the best! Throwing her clothes out of her drawers, she searched long and hard for the cutest skirt and best matching top.
'Plaid!" She thought, yanking out a green plaid mini-skirt, 'Very cultural.' She continued her wild search and pulled out a aqua green v-neck sweater and a white button-up shirt to wear under it.

"Perfect, Penny!" She said, gazing at her beautiful makeup and outfit in her full-body mirror. "Always Perfect! Maybe Hugo will even ask you out, huh?" She struck a couple poses and winked at herself, "Yeah, you're ho' enough tuhday!"

THUNK THUNK!

"Baby cakes, your breakfast is ge'in' cold!" Iris' frail voice wavered again from behind the closed wooden doors, making Penny roll her eyes. "Shall I make you a cup of tea?"

"No, Grandmum!" Penny stomped her foot and marched to the door, swinging it open to let a little rage out but simply couldn't get herself to be mad after seeing her sweet old Grandmother standing with folded hands on her tummy and messy hair from the steam of the stove. Penny smirked a light smile. "I'll be fine..." They exchanged a small moment before Penny leaned in and kissed her cheek, "No time for breakfast, G-mum!" She raised her eyebrows at Iris. "I've go' a date!"

"Ooh, with tha' cute boy, hum...Hubert, was it?" Iris asked, turning a half circle as Penny skipped passed her to the door.

"Nope!" Penny leaned down and swung her backpack over her shoulder, "With the Cheerleading Coach!" She giggled and blew her grandmother a kiss, and with that, she left her house.

It was a crisp morning as usual. Nothing new for a Winter's break-of-day in Kentucky. It was just her luck that she decided to wear one of her warmest cute outfits.

"Penny!" The jock Ryan rushed up beside her on the sidewalk. "Lemme walk you to school, huh?" Penny rolled her eyes.

"Not today, Ryan." She said in a quite monotonous tone of voice.

"C'mon! Just for today--hey!" He walked in front of her to stop her stride and pointed his fingers at her like two guns, "I know a shortcut....wanna see?" Penny snarled up her nose in disgust and shoved him aside, continuing her stroll.

"I don't know wha' you actually mean by that and frankly," She stopped and turned to face him again, "I never want to." Ryan sighed and accepted his defeat, but before he let her sass her way to school, he whipped out an envelope from his Varsity jacket pocket.

"At least take this..." He said, handing it to her, "Its an invitation to my party tonight...everyone on the team's gonna be there, i-including the cheerleaders, so...Consider it a welcoming party as well!" He chuckled with confidence and playfully punched her arm, "I know you'll blow the coaches minds with your skills." A glint of a less narcissistic side of him glittered in his eyes. But before she could savor the split-second of normality from him, he smacked her butt and winked. "Go get em, tiger!" With that, he took his shortcut, far,far away from Penny.

"H-E-R-O, WE'RE GONNA MAKE YOU STUB YOUR TOE--"

"No, no no...thats..." The coach rubbed his forehead in stress as the auditioners failed miserably. "I'm sorry girls, I just don't think you have what it takes to be Cheerleaders for the Heroes, we...we need strikingly true Heroines! Not damsels in distress...does that make sense?" He attempted to let them off lightly as they slumped over and moseyed off the playing field. "Next!" He turned to his assistant who stood, excitedly, with a clipboard in hand, "This better be a good one..." He mumbled to Clark, his assistant coach.

"Oh it sure will! Its Penelope Pollock, y'know...The rich Scottish chick!" Clark, coldly, commented. The Coach, Tom, looked at him with disgust.

"Um...be more specific?" He sarcastically remarked.

"Well, she is the one whose parents are both movie stars so she had to move here to live with her grandmother and--" Clark began again.

"AAAhhh---thats..enough...bring her in."

This was Penny's time to shine. Ever since she was a little girl she wanted to be cheer captain for the Heroes football team. Now that she was finally in College she could freely try-out, especially with football season coming up.

She shook out her nerves a moment before stepping onto the playing field. Her uniform was freezing her to death, but she attempted to hide her uncomfort. As she turned to face the coaches, her heart hopped frantically. It was really happening. She really was going to tryout...and she knew, with everything in her heart, that she would make it.

Ryan strutted down the field in his practice uniform, away from the scrimmage match.

"Hey, bro!" Hollered one of the players, "You still in it?" Ryan turned around and walked backwards,

"No, my man! I gotta watch my lady try out!" The boys hollered at him in approval, however, not everyone was excited by this.

"Penny's so stupid!" Gina Peterson, the 'popular' girl commented, leaning against a bleacher post and staring at Ryan running. "I mean..why would ANYONE like someone who sounds like they have cottonballs stuffed under their tongue!" She scoffed as her possy chuckled at the remark.

"Y'know Gina," Gina's right-hand gal Emmy retorted, "If Ryan sees how lame she REALLY is at cheering, maybe he'll think twice before asking her out..." All the girls gasped, catching Emmy's drift.

"This," Gina bopped Emmy on the nose, "Is why I have you, Em." She turned to the scene, glaring at Penny. "Give me your pudding, Natalie." She snatched the plastic pudding cup without consolation. "And, Ren--" She flipped her blonde ponytail to turn her head to her 'friend.' "I'm gonna need your scarf."

"So, how old are you?" Coach Tom inquired, peering up at Penny.

"I'm 18, sir." She replied, politely. Her eyes lost contact as she spotted Ryan leaning against the tree nearby. He waved gently at her and gave her a thumbs up to which she scoffed and rolled her eyes.

"Alright, you may begin." Tom smiled and leaned back in his white lawnchair.

Her heart was really racing now. Little did she know what was happening backstage.
Gina crouched behind the bush directly beside Penny and snickered, menacingly. She leaned over the side and gave her accomplices a thumbs up.

"COACH, COACH! Ren broke her ankle!" Hollered Emmy. The coach and assistant turned to face the girls, giving Gina the chance to dash out and plop the chocolate pudding on the ground, stretch out the scarf and run back to the bush. She leaned back over and gave a thumbs up once more. "Oh--false alarm, false alarm! Sorry!"

Penny wasn't stupid. She knew something was up....she just couldn't seem to put her finger on it.
She sighed and positioned her feet in a wide stance, unknowingly right where Gina wanted. She had to steady her breathing before she began, otherwise she might lose composure in the middle of her tryout. Penny steadied herself and lifted her arms behind her back to give momentum for a backflip she'd been planning..but before she could fully leave the ground, Gina yanked the other end of the scarf backward and tipped Penny's toes with a great force, causing her to faceplant into the pile of pudding (which looked an awful lot like something else). Gina's possy ran up and started making a scene by pointing, laughing and ew-ing. Soon, the whole playing field joined in just in time for Penny to lift her head back up and rub her bruised forehead. Everyone laughed loudly and starts chanted, "Poopy Penny" like 12 year olds. A burning sensation began to erupt in Penny's heart. She felt betrayed, belittled...she felt like all her dreams had forever been halted and would never come true.

Just then, a loud high-pitched screeching sound came from the bush next to Penny. Everyone slowly died down their chant and stared, terrified, at the bush. Out emerged a petrified Gina. Her left hand was bloodied a little on the side and dripping lightly still.

"OH MY GOD!" She hollered, stumbling out and staring at her hand, "Something just bit me!" Everyone erupted into screams, panicking and running.

"HOLD ON!" Coach Tom yelled, standing up. "Its okay, everyone, its alright! It was probably just a wild dog or a squirrel--" He attempted to lighten the mood.

"THAT IS NOT A FUCKING SQUIRREL!" Ryan hollered, dashing to Penny, shamelessly, and falling in the mud beside her on his knees. "Unless its some macho, dino-squirrel hybrid we don't know of yet..." He joked, turning Penny's cheek with his hand to face him.

"Get off me..." Penny's voice wavered with an obvious hidden cry emerging. She shoved him off and wiped off her face with her arm, shivering from the cold winter air.

"My hand! Oh my God, my HAND!" Gina stumbled forward and shook her hand, splattering blood everywhere.

"Gina--" Coach Tom ran to her and helped her to a bench to sit, "Lemme have a look see--" He lifted her hand and placed it on his palm to examine it. His eyes widened slowly, "Oh my...Gina, you may have to take a break from Cheering, we can't have a wounded cheer captain." Gina whipped her hand back and stood up.

"No!" She hollered, "I am NOT backing down from cheering! I'm fine, really! I probably just scraped it up against that bush..." She looked over her shoulder at Penny, who was lucky enough to have Ryan hugging her to comfort her. Gina snarled. Her plan backfired. She was trying to get him AWAY from her...not ON her.

"Gina, honey--" Tom began again, but the bad-tempered blonde spun to him again,

"I'll go to the nurse and have her patch it up. But I can keep cheering! I can." With a sigh and a shrug, Coach Tom let it pass.

"First Ryan smacks my butt, next I faceplant into one of Gina's pranks and last Hugo wasn't even at school today!" Penny slammed her elbow down on the table and squished her cheek against it, "How could this day get any worse, Grandmum...?"

"Well, dearie," Iris walked behind her and leaned over to pour her tea into her cup, "You still have that party tonight, don't you?" She placed the pot back down and tiptoed her way to her chair again, "That should be fun." Penny scoffed,

"Yeah, because after you embarrass yourself in front of the WHOLE football squad, you should go to a potentially prank-filled party with the WHOLE football squad." Penny faceplanted into her folded arms on the table and sighed in grief.

"There there, Penny." Iris stood and walked back to her granddaughter, lightly tapping her back for comfort, "I'm sure they've all forgotten by now! Oh my!" Iris exclaimed, looking at the chiming wall-clock, "You'll be late if you don't go now! Doesn't he just live down the street from us?"

"Yeah..." Penny lifted her head again, "I'll go..." She scooted her chair back and stood up, slouching. Poutily, she slumped her way to the coat rack and grabbed her coat then blew Iris a lazy kiss before walking out the front door.

Tunk tunk!

The door creaked open, letting out the loud dubstep music and beaming party lights flooding onto Penny's face.
"Oh my God, you made it!" Ryan chuckled and opened the door wider, "Come on in! You haven't missed much!" A loud sound of glass crashing struck the room silent a moment then bursted into a laughter. "Well, looks like the party just started!" Ryan said, pointing at the seemingly drunk and delirious Gina lying next to a broken bowl of 'punch'. Penny chuckled and knelt down by her side,

"I see you go' your hand patched. Feelin' better?" She asked, smiling at Gina's sweaty face.

"Be-better...?" Gina questioned with an odd grumbly voice. She pushed herself onto her elbows and grabbed onto the side of the table for support.

"I'll take that as a yes." Penny felt a little uncomfortable. She'd never been around a drunk person before, or alcohol in general. Iris has kept her a good girl.

"C'mon!" Ryan grabbed Penny's arm and brought her to the backdoor, "This is where the REAL party is at!" He added, pulling back the curtains. Penny gave him an annoyed look then looked out the window and chuckled,

"A empty pool?" She asked, looking at him with a confused face. "Doesn't seem like a party to me." He pointed a finger at her,

"Yet!" She shook her head,

"Its the middle of winter--" She began,

"Its heated." He chuckled, "You wearing anything under that dress?" He asked, leaning back to view the whole get-up. She put a finger under his chin and lifted his head back up, away from the view.

"Yes...Why?"

Before she knew it, the empty pool WAS a true party: With just him and her in their unders, having fun. While everyone else danced their hearts out, they wrestled around and fought rowdily, just the way she liked it. Ryan came from behind her and put her in a headlock, only for her to make a smart move and dip underwater then elbow him in the stomach. He let go of her neck and she grabbed his free arm, swung it around his back and pinned it their before emerging back out of the water.

"I won again." She said slyly, face-to-face to him. He smirked and breathed heavily,

"Seems that way, huh?" Before she could react he spun his arm back over and grabbed her hand with his free arm, holding her close to him with her arms wrapped around both sides like a straight-jacket. He smirked, "What now, ginger?"

"Don't you dare!" She joked, chuckling a little. Their laughs died a bit as she noticed something different. She gazed into his blue eyes a moment and saw something familiar...that glint...his narcissism was gone again and that glint was glittering flauntingly at her. She stared deeper, losing her ability to express herself.

"Penny." He interrupted her trance and she looked back down at his face. "I'm in love with you." Her heart fluttered and her mind wandered. This was a whole new playing ground for her. Before she was stuck crushing on the cute kid and now...The real Ryan showed himself...and he was amazing. He brought his warm-wet hand to her cheek and slowly pulled her face to his, pressing his gentle lips against hers. Her stomach flipped and she lifted her arms around his neck as the moonlight glinted off the shallow pool they stood in.

The moment didn't last long before a loud rustling came from the bushes. Penny backed off him almost immediately, as if she felt guilty all in all for kissing him.

"What was that?" She peered around the bushes. Ryan looked slightly offended and pointed out the distance between them from her shoving herself off,

"What was THAT? I thought we were--" He began to complain, but the rustling happened once more. Both stood in the water as still as possible, staring at the bushes. Suddenly, Gina, looking like an escaped mental patient, darted out of the bushes holding the middle piece of an extension chord. One end was plugged into the wall and the other was plugged into the middle piece. The other chord attached was plugged into the generator and then the middle piece. She had really gone psycho, and Penny could sense it. Gina hollered out in a raspy voice,

"He's mine, you bitch!" And dashed towards the pool, ready to toss the electric middle piece into the pool and kill her. Penny screamed and swam to the ladder as quick as possible while Ryan, on the other end, pulled himself out of the pool to safety. "I'm gonna kill you!" Her voice was distorted and terrifying as it echoed through the silent dark and cold night. Penny's adrenaline levels rose as she flailed her way to the ladder, knowing Gina was just inches behind tossing the extension chord in. Ryan felt helpless as he was too far from Gina to tackle her and too far from Penny to help her in time. He peered about him and then stopped, smirking,

"How about a taste of your own medicine, psycho?!" He hollered at Gina, causing her to look his way. He leaned down at the chord lying in front of him in the grass and yanked it. Just as he did, Penny pulled herself up the ladder and flung herself onto the grass, and just in time as well. The chord Ryan yanked tripped Gina as he'd hoped, but soon spiraled into worse chaos. She flung forward, extension chord in hand, and bellyflopped directly into the pool, immediately beginning to jolt as the pool put on a light show of electricity. Ryan stood still in guilt, staring at Gina as she contracted violently. Suddenly, she stopped moving all together and a stench of burnt flesh rose in the air. The amount of voltage running through the chords she had set up eventually made the extension chord explode and the generator to burn up, causing the whole block to experience a power outage and halting the light show in the pool. Everyone inside the house screamed as the lights suddenly shut off, but little did they know of the true horrors.

"Ryan!" Penny exclaimed, scrambling to her feet and dashing to him. He put a hand out for her to stop and pointed at the pool where Gina's body floated facing downward. He slowly walked around the side and bent down next to the side, reaching a hand out to her head,

"Gina?" His voice managed to squeak out. He reached out further at her steaming head but before he could touch her, he jolted back from the loud noise of bubbles, gurgling out from below her face. She twitched periodically and bubbled violently as the whole house eventually turned to the windows to watch the scene. "Gina..." Ryan began again, leaning back to her. The bubbling and twitching continued a moment before it all stopped, dead. Everything grew silent and tense as he reached his arm out again to her head. Penny scrambled to his jersey he had been wearing before they stripped to swim and threw it on, then started to walk to him, hoping she could grab his hand and make a run for it. "Gina, are you--" Just then, Gina's head lifted and she grabbed Ryan's arm, yanking him into the pool with her. Her whole body was bloody, chapped, charred and mangled, but somehow, she still managed to pull him in.

"Call 9-1-1!" Penny yelled to the panicking party-goers inside. Ryan bubbled out and flailed around, attempting to resurface. "RYAN NO!" Penny fell to her knees by the pool side and reached down to his submerged hand, just out of reach. Suddenly, an enormous amount of bubbles arose from his mouth and Penny jumped back, seeing something she never wanted to see. The pool started turning red...Ryan's unheard screams started dying down...Gina began gnawing at his arms and mauling his lifeless body.

Penny was gone.